[unav_all] AGU Special Sessopm

[Timothy H.Dixon]

  Dear Colleagues,

  We would like to call your attention to Session G06 "Geodesy and 
Geophysics of Coastal Subsidence, Regional Sea Level Rise, and 
Consequences" at fall AGU.

  Coastal subsidence and regional sea level rise combine to form an 
important interdisciplinary scientific problem, with critical 
implications as people and property are increasingly at risk.

  The session description is below.  Abstracts are due Sept. 6th.

  Thank you!!!  and apologies for multiple posts.....

  Ron Blom, Tim Dixon, Bert Vermeersen

____________


  Session description.


Convener:
  Ronald G. Blom
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  M/S 300-233
    4800 Oak Grove Drive
  Pasadena, CA, USA  91109
  818-354-4681
ronald.blom at jpl.nasa.gov

  Timothy H. Dixon
University of Miami
  RSMAS-MGG, N374
    4600 Rickenbacker Cswy.
  Miami, FL, USA  33149
  305-421-4660
tdixon at rsmas.miami.edu

  Bert Vermeersen
TU Delft
  Kluyverweg 1
  Delft, NLD  2629HS
  +31 (0)15 27 88272
L.L.A.Vermeersen at tudelft.nl


  Coastal subsidence and regional sea level rise combine to form an 
important interdisciplinary scientific problem, with critical 
implications as people and property are increasingly at risk. The 
geophysical processes involved are incompletely understood, and 
specific contributions of various components of different spatial and 
temporal scales are poorly known. Significantly, regional sea level 
change can differ considerably from global-averaged values; in fact, in 
many places there is actually a sea-level drop (e.g. formerly glaciated 
areas). Meanwhile, areas such as the Mississippi delta show rapid 
relative sea level rise due to subsidence caused by multiple factors. 
The simple notion of a uniform redistribution of present-day meltwater 
over the world's oceans is incorrect due to the self-gravitation effect 
("fingerprinting"). Local or regional authorities need to know what 
sea-level will be at their location, and this will likely differ 
substantially from this global average. In terms of sea-level change, 
any measurements of long-term sea-level rise are complicated by 
complex, non-secular signals which occur on seasonal, interannual and 
decadal time scales and vary by region. These non-secular variations 
are potentially important in accounting for observed discrepancies 
between historic tide-gauge data and data from recent altimeter 
missions such as TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1, and make it difficult to 
assess accelerations in sea-level rise. Many of these variations have 
oceanographic origins and are interesting in their own right as a key 
to understanding the global water budget. Crustal deformation, from 
sources such as sediment loading, post-seismic deformation after large 
earthquakes, and unloading as ice sheets melt, will also be evident in 
the tide-gauge record, and coastal subsidence will also cause 
non-secular signals for certain regions. Various space based data sets 
(GPS, InSAR, GRACE, LandSAT, ASTER, etc.), state of the art geodesy, 
and new geophysical modeling capabilities, all can be used to improve 
understanding of the underlying physics. Accurate measurement and 
prediction is vital for dealing with changing sea levels. In this 
session we seek to bring together scientists from diverse disciplines 
to discuss the current state of understanding of secular, non-secular, 
and regional changes in sea level, and the future impacts to changing 
coastlines. Focus will be given to studies that separate signals of a 
particular origin, either geodetic or oceanographic, seasonal or 
longer-period, from measurements of sea level and/or coastal 
subsidence. Modeling studies or synthesis efforts involving the 
combination of models and data are also emphasized. Case studies of 
specific regions are of particular interest. Studies that include or 
focus on ways this information has been used by planners or 
policymakers are welcome.


Tim Dixon
Professor, University of Miami
RSMAS-MGG
4600 Rickenbacker Cswy
Miami, FL 33149
305 421 4660 (office)
305 421 4928 (Lab)
305 323 1820 (cell)
305 421 4632 (fax)
email: tdixon at rsmas.miami.edu
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